Top row from left: photo from New York Magazine, bottle wrap from Martha Stewart, picnic utensils originally seen here
Row 2: oilcloth lunch bag from Martha Stewart, gingham stickers from The Tinies, sandwiches from Domino
Row 3: photo from Country Living, picnic food from Martha Stewart Weddings via Lucky Me!, flowers from Saipua, sodas from Real Simple
Row 4: guitar photo from La Fleur, miniature pies and lined envelope both from Martha Stewart, photo from Jupiter Images
When I first
saw this photo of the boating party, I immediately thought how fun it
would be to have a picnic like that. Just lazily floating along, eating
good food, laughing with friends. Of course, this could go any number
of ways, with lunch on the grass and then boating afterwards, or lunch
in the boats and then playing on the grass. Or just an entire afternoon
in a rowboat. That sounds best to me.
When: Any sunny weekend afternoon.
The invitations: Use red gingham and brown lunch
sacks as an inspiration point, and line kraft paper envelopes with red
checked paper. Or, if you feel really clever, print your invitation
directly on a brown lunch sack like this one by Sesame Letterpress. Let guests know that lunch will be provided.
The place: A park lake with access to rented row boats.
The food: Provide your guests with dressed-up picnic food, like fig jam and stilton or curried chicken salad
(one of my personal favorites is avocado, goat cheese and sun dried
tomatoes on a baguette). Make fruit salad or caprese salad easy to eat
by skewering the pieces like kabobs. Wrap miniature pies or cookies in
wax paper, and wrap disposable utensils in twine or raffia. Pull drinks
alongside the boats in an ice-filled inner tube.
The decor: There’s not really any need to decorate, but you might hang
fabric bunting from trees or on the sides of the boats, and arrange
flowers in tin cans or tea tins on the table where guests will pick up
their lunches.
Other details: To cut down on waste, serve lunches in oilcloth lunch bags
which can double as favors for your guests. Have blankets and parasols
available for keeping warm or blocking the sun. Ask your guests to
share their talents, either by playing music, helping to make food, or
taking photos.
By Kathryn Storke of Snippet & Ink